As we define it, a Visual Workplace is: an environment that is self-ordering, self-explaining, self-regulating and self-improving—where what is supposed to happen does happen, on time, every time, day or night—because of visual devices.

Such an environment is populated by hundreds, even thousands, of visual devices and solutions, created by a workforce that knows how to think visually. These devices translate vital information into exact behavior so we do the right thing, correctly, on-time, and safely.

The result: a 15-30% increase in productivity in nearly every implementation.

QMI’s Technologies of the Visual Workplace are the glue that holds operational functionality together and makes improvement gains sustainable.

With more than 25 years in the field, we can help you on your journey to excellence through workplace visuality.

Factory information can change quickly and often—production schedules, customer requirements, engineering specifications, operational methods, tooling and fixtures, material procurement, work-in-process, and thousands of other details upon which the daily life of the enterprise depends.

An information-scarce work environment is a breeding ground for defects, delays, distrust and indifference. In it, we spend time searching, wandering, waiting, stopping, rework, and asking endless questions—but not working.

Simple low-tech/high-impact visual devices provide extraordinary solutions to chronic information deficits (the real problem). These inventions, created by a spirited and engaged workforce—a workforce of Visual Thinkers—make it easy to access accurate, complete, and timely information as a day-to-day practice.

The result? A workplace that speaks.

Machines do not simply produce “things.” They also produce information—vital information we need to know about their operation, changeover, maintenance and repair.

When we bring visual principles and practices to the machine, we let the machine speak and share its secrets with us. At QMI, we call this: the Visual Machine®.

QMI’s Visual Machine method imbeds vital information deeply into the process of work, at the exact-point-of-use. Over time, visual functionality extends into staging areas, tool/dies/fixture storage,

material handling and storage, quality, and planning and into the macro-environment where hundreds of transactions take place daily that impact machine utilization.

When comprehensively implemented, machine visuality dramatically reduces unplanned downtime, long repair lead times, lost production, angry customers, frustrated supervisors, confused newcomers and a demoralized workforce.

The same principles and practices of Workplace Visuality that make the factory floor faster, better, safer, and more profitable also apply in offices, regardless of the industry. Sales and marketing offices, engineering departments, quality, financial and functions—all benefit from a systematic implementation of the Technologies of the Visual Workplace.

Yet QMI has discovered that while the knowledge and principles that help companies achieve a Visual Office are identical to those we use on the shop floor, the implementation methodology is considerably different.

We have amplified our existing Visual Office knowledge and know-how to include a parallel improvement focus on the critical path of the office work environment. The result is QMI’s Visual-Lean® Office Implementation Suite.

The visual revolution is spreading to every venue, including hospitals and medical centers.

Just as they do on the manufacturing floor and in offices, visual principles and practices make a dramatic and positive impact in the work life of doctors, nurses, technicians, and support staff–and, as importantly, in the care and recovery of patients.

QMI/Visual Institute is in the process of entering into collaborative agreements with a cancer research center and a major teaching hospital for the purpose of aligning and customizing QMI’s extensive visual resources into a set of instructional and implementation materials for the medical setting.

We plan to conduct our first Visual Hospital Train-the-Trainer series in the Winter of 2008.

Let us know if you’re interested in joining this collaborative.

• Public Seminars-2008
• Off-the-Shelf Training Packages
• Training In-House and External Trainers

• Visual Workplace Prize
• Visual Photo Album CDs
• NIST/MEP Network Affiliation
• Visual Workplace Webinars